Within hours and less than 50 miles apart, this weekend I saw two completely different visions of America.
In the unusually hot afternoon sun in Pittsburgh, a crowd had gathered to hear their hero Barack Obama.
The Democratic party he’s in trouble, maybe big trouble, on Tuesday mid-term elections. They are on the verge of losing both the Senate and the House of Representatives in Washington DC and may see Republican governors seize power in several states.
The implications for Democrats’ domestic policies on economics, health care, abortion rights, immigration and climate would be profound. American foreign policy would also shift more inward.
And so is the speaker Obama, with a spark that President Joe Biden missing, he was ready to rally a lackluster Democratic Party base.
Its target was the now familiar warnings of the threat to democracy that Democrats claim is represented by Trump Republicans denying elections.
Dangerous divisions
He warned about divisions fueling a “dangerous climate”, citing the hammer attack on the husband of the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
As is often the case in American election cycles, Pennsylvania is critical to both sides.
It could tip the balance in a crucial mid-term US Senate race between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz.
“This habit we have of demonizing political opponents, of saying crazy things. It creates a dangerous climate,” Obama said.
“There are politicians who work not to unite people but to foment divisions and make us angry and scared of each other only for their own benefit, so they can take power.”
Among the crowd, there was a clear recognition of the importance of this medium-term interpretation of the direction of the country.
“This semester is definitely the most important we have ever had in my life,” Elector Alex told me.
Another said, “It’s good to hear a healthy speech. Measured and balanced and saying the right things and the things that people need to hear and that this country needs to hear is refreshing.”
Leeanna McKibben said: “I think it is essential to exercise our right to vote and eliminate the incivility that is happening. We can have a bipartisan politics, but it has to be done with respect and civility. And that is not what is happening right now.”
The key state of Pennsylvania
Although Nevada and Georgia are also both key Senate races, much of the attention is on Pennsylvania due to its history of left-to-right swings.
In the presidential elections of 2016 he arrived Donald Trump, handing him over the White House. Four years later he returned to Mr. Biden and the Democrats.
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The battle of the former presidents
No wonder so much campaign money has been invested in the countryside here, and no wonder all the big hitters are running through the state.
A key problem for the Democrats is Mr. Biden. Its approval rating is only 40% according to the most recent polls. It’s another reason Obama is out – a reminder that there is more to Democrats than Biden.
Trump’s red wave?
Fifty miles down the road at an airport, there was also another former president: Mr. Trump, a man who hasn’t stopped campaigning since losing the election two years ago.
“The election has been rigged and stolen and we won’t let that happen again,” he told a huge crowd of his most loyalists.
There is no evidence for his claim of election fraud. Audits, recounting and court cases across America have confirmed Biden as the winner in 2020, but Trump has managed to sow doubts in the fabric of society.
Image: AP
The false claim remains its central message for a Presidential campaign 2024 everyone expects him to announce overnight.
“I love Trump!” supporter Lory Randall told me. “The best president ever.”
“Trump is my boyfriend because he’s honest, he doesn’t sweeten anything, he can’t stand anything and he puts America first,” said Aaron Hoffman.
Another said, “I’m here to see Donald Trump because I believe he should be our president and Joe Biden is destroying America.”
The vibe, the energy, the brand – it’s all here for the man who seems to command almost total control of the Republican Party today.
Despite everything the Democratic Party and a minority of anti-Trump Republicans have done to try to discredit him, expose him as a liar and a cheat, to make sure he’s gone down in history, he just doesn’t look like he’s the past at all.
He hopes this week’s mid-term elections will provide a “red wave” confirming that his appeal goes beyond this core and that candidates who deny elections across the country, which he has approved, will win.
Remember: if they win, many of them will be responsible for judging the validity of the 2024 presidential election.
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How do mid-term elections work?
The solitary troublemaker
As Mr. Trump spoke, a lonely voice rose from the crowd.
“He’s a liar,” he yelled.
Her moan, and the reaction around her, was a clear glimpse of the deep angry divisions, up close.
“Shut her up! Shut her up!” the crowd shouted, borrowing a chant they used for Trump’s 2016 rival Hilary Clinton.
“Go home. Go to your rally and brag about your Obama and brag about inflation,” a man yelled into her face.
With considerable force and with her arms locked in a hold behind her, she was then taken out by the police.
Beyond the perimeter they released her and we chatted briefly.
“We know very well that the elections weren’t stolen. It was right, it was safe, it was safe …” he said before the police returned and resumed the eviction.
He never told us his name, but he spoke for many millions in the other America.
It is difficult to see how these two distinctly different views for this alleged United States can be reconciled.
